It should be noted that this was my first week of all morning runs in way too long! I don’t mind an evening run here or there, but over the course of the last six months, it was definitely becoming a regular thing. It was nice to get back into more of a routine this week. The time change will definitely help me stay on this schedule, as there will be no daylight once I get home from work in the evening. Daylight savings aside, I think my motivation levels are coming back up in conjunction with my iron levels!
Here is what last week’s training looked like:
Monday – Easy: 7 miles (8:27 pace)
I started the week off with a few easy treadmill miles. We got some rain on Sunday night and the driveway was not runnable on Monday morning. I could’ve driven somewhere else to run, but the convenience of being able to run at home is too hard to pass up sometimes.
Tuesday – Easy: 6 miles (8:32 pace)
I got in a few easy peasy lemon squeezy driveway miles on Tuesday morning.
Wednesday – Quality: 2.5 mi. WU, 4 X 400, 4 X 300, 6 X 200, 4 X 100, 2.5 mi. CD
I hit the track Wednesday morning for a fun ladder workout. The workout called for a two mile warm up, four 400s, four 300s, six 200s, four 100s and a two mile cool down. I don’t know why there were six 200s and four of everything else, but I definitely spent way too much mental energy thinking about that during the workout. I was |thisclose| to changing it mid-workout to make all the sets even. I’m happy to report that I didn’t let my OCD get the best of me (not this time at least :)).
The 400s had “moderate” jogging recovery, which made them a bit more challenging than they would’ve otherwise been. My body seems to have really gotten used to standing recoveries and I was working a bit harder than I would’ve liked by that last 400. My splits were 82, 81, 82, 80. The 300s were also supposed to have a “moderate” jogging recovery as well, but I altered that on the fly. In hindsight, I should’ve just slowed my roll down to a regular jogging recovery, but instead I decided to go with a standing recovery. My splits were 56, 57, 55, 56. Side note: I am not entirely sure where the 300 mark is on the track. Obviously I have a general idea, but I never can seem to find the exact mark.
By the time I got to the 200s, I was feeling good and warmed up and I was ready to zoom. My time for every single 200 was 37 seconds, which coincidentally was exactly what the goal time was. I don’t think I could do that again if I tried! Similar to the above-referenced issue with the 300 mark, it also appears that I don’t know exactly where the 100 mark is either. My splits were 19, 15, 16, 19. I’m assuming the first and last one were long and the middle two were short. Who knows. The point was to do a few fast bursts and I did just that.
Hurricane Zeta made its presence known on Wednesday evening. We got the generator back out and hunkered down again, but thankfully (for the most part) the damage in our area was minimal compared to Hurricane Sally.
Thursday – REST
There was no running on Thursday. The only thing slightly active that I did was pick up a bunch of sticks in the yard before going to work.
Friday –Easy: 9.75 miles (8:20 pace)
I went to a nearby neighborhood to get some miles in on Friday morning before work. My legs felt better than expected and the run was very enjoyable!
Saturday –Quality: 3 mi. WU, 2 mi. @ MP, 2 X 800, 4 X 30 sec., 2 mi. CD
Saturday morning’s workout called for a three mile warm up, two miles up-tempo, two 800s, four thirty second intervals and a two mile cool down. The two miles were actually prescribed as marathon pace, but there is a 0% chance that I could currently run a marathon at my VDOT “marathon” pace, so I’m just calling it a tempo-ish effort. I met up with some of the old gang for the warm up miles and then I did my own thing for the workout. My two up-tempo miles were 6:10 and 6:05. Both miles were a tad hilly, so I am very pleased with those paces.
Ideally I was planning to get to the track for the 800s, but that didn’t workout based on the route we ran (and I am more than okay with that). My splits for the two 800s were 2:38 and 2:42. The goal was 2:40, so the average was spot on! I didn’t have a whole lot of motivation (or energy) left for the four thirty second pickups, but I got them done. This was the longest workout in total that I’ve done in a while and it felt great to get it in and to feel good in the process.
Sunday – Easy: 10.25 miles (8:08 pace)
I got in another long (ish) run from home on Sunday morning to cap off a really solid week of training.
Happy November! Whew. I don’t know exactly where this year has gone, but it certainly seems to be going somewhere. Some days it feels like we are headed to hell in a handbasket, but other days it feels like things are looking up. I’m definitely feeling very nervous about the election tomorrow. It feels like a lose, lose situation, but maybe we will all be pleasantly surprised. Fingers crossed!
Month Recap: October 2020
Workouts: I got in a few solid workouts during the month of October.
3 mi. WU, 12 X 200 (37), 3 mi. CD 2 mi. WU, 8 X 200 (35), 2 mi. CD 3 mi. WU, 8 X 200/400 (39/79), 2 mi. CD 2.5 mi. WU, 4 X 400 (80), 4 X 300 (55), 6 X 200 (36), 4 X 100 (17), 2.5 mi. CD 3 mi. WU, 2 miles (6:10, 6:04), 2 X 800 (2:38, 2:42), 2 mi. CD
Favorite workout: My favorite workout this month was probably the 400, 300, 200, 100 ladder workout. I always seem to enjoy workouts with varying distance intervals.
Races: I RAN A RACE this month. WOO to the HOO! Can you tell I enjoyed it?! This was my first “real” race since mid-March. It’s still so weird that we are living in a world where we even need to clarify whether a race was real or not. Ha.
Paces: My paces ranged from 5:41 to 9:42.
Average Pace: My average pace for the month was 8:18. This is a bit quicker than my typical average pace, but my overall mileage was a bit lower as well. I’m guessing the two are positively correlated.
Miles: My total mileage this month was 206.75. Unless something crazy happens (which seems like a constant possibility these days), October will be my lowest mileage month of the year.
Elevation: I climbed 7,146 feet this month. I haven’t been running on the driveway quite as much recently it seems, but most “regular” routes have at least a little bit of climbing in them.
Longest run: My longest run was 12 miles. I don’t technically think I was supposed to do 12 miles on the day that I did this, but I was feeling good and I just went with it.
Shortest run: My shortest run was 3 miles. I think this was a morning that I procrastinated a bit too long (waiting until the sun came up) and once I got out there, I basically didn’t have time to run. Oh well.
Rest days: I took three entire days off this month! I’ve not been a big rest day person in the past, but I have definitely enjoyed taking a few days off here and there (and especially when there wasn’t much of anything to train for).
Pilates: I also went to three Pilates classes this month. I’m still loving my Pilates! I can see myself getting really into this in the future if I am not running quite as much as I am currently. I could also see myself getting back into tennis at some point, which is really neither here nor there, but I just felt like mentioning it for whatever reason.
That’s it for now. Keeping it short and sweet today! Thank you so much for reading and following along!
Okay, okay. I got behind on these again, but the good news is that you didn’t miss much. I still haven’t been doing a ton of exciting workouts, but I’m happy to report that I am in the process of gradually building back up. I’ve been taking an iron supplement and eating WAY more red meat and iron rich foods than before, so hopefully my iron levels are on the up swing. Fingers crossed.
Week of 10.12.20 – 10.18.20 –
Monday – Easy: 6 miles (8:47 pace) Tuesday – Easy: 8 miles (7:28 pace) Wednesday – Easy: 6 miles (8:45 pace) Thursday – Rest Friday – Easy: 6 miles (8:41 pace) + Pilates Saturday – RACE! Sunday – Easy: 10 miles (8:29 pace)
The highlight of this week was definitely the 5k race! You can read all about that in the recap that I wrote (linked above).
Week of 10.19.20 – 10.25.20 –
Monday – Easy: 7 miles (8:46 pace) Tuesday – Easy: 6 miles (8:27 pace) Wednesday – Quality: 6 miles w/ 8 X 200/400 Thursday – Easy: 6 miles (8:46 pace) Friday – Rest (w/ Pilates) Saturday – Easy: 7 miles (8:12 pace) Sunday – Quality: 7 miles (Virtual 5k w/ Jessica)
Two highlights from this week were the workout on Wednesday and running a “virtual” 5k with Jessica on Sunday.
Wednesday’s workout was the first workout more than 200 meter repeats that I have done since September 12. What?! That’s bananas. I would almost say that the best thing about the entire morning was how much I was looking forward to the workout beforehand. I haven’t been feeling super jazzed about running in general, but the 5k the weekend before seems to have rejuvenated me a bit!
As far as the actual workout itself goes, the 200s were a bit slower than goal pace and the 400s were a bit faster than goal pace. Basically, I’m going to call it even! The 200s were supposed to be at repetition pace and the 400s were supposed to be at interval pace. Goal pace for the 200s was 4:57 (37 seconds per rep) and goal pace for the 400s was 5:22 (80 seconds per rep). I basically ran the same pace for the entire workout, averaging 39 for the 200s and 79 for the 400s. I thoroughly enjoyed every single one of the post-workout endorphins that came as a result of my morning track sesh.
I met Jessica at dark:thirty on Sunday morning to run the McKirdy Trained Virtual 5k with her. Per usual, it was just really darn nice to run with a buddy. I have still been doing the majority of my runs solo and this was a great reminder that running with friends is always better!
Y’all … I RAN A RACE … a real, in person, live race. It was everything I hoped it would be and so much more! Obviously there haven’t been many in person races to choose from to begin with, but even so I wasn’t missing racing as much as I would’ve expected. I’m going to take this as a good sign of sorts. I would even venture to say that it’s been a season of personal growth and contentment. At least, that’s what we’re gonna go with. Final answer.
This race was not on my calendar or even on my radar at all until the week of the race. My primary focus for the last six weeks has been to work on getting my iron levels up. I’ve been taking an iron supplement and eating way more red meat than usual. As far as training goes, I’ve basically just been doing low volume and low intensity running. While I knew that I wasn’t in peak fitness by any means, I also figured that I was way more rested than I otherwise would’ve been. I thought it would be fun to just go for it and see what happened.
The race was the Bras Across the CAUSEway 5k. As you probably guessed, this is an event that supports breast cancer awareness and the benefits actually support local breast cancer patients, which makes it special. For those of you who aren’t local to the Mobile Area, the Causeway is the term used for the approximately 7 mile stretch of road connecting US 90 and US 98 across Mobile Bay. The race is very appropriately named, as there were *literally* bras strung all along across the Causeway on race day.
The race started at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning. I got there around 7:30, picked up my packed and did a really short warm up (less than a mile and a half). The conditions were absolutely PERFECT, with temperatures in the low 50s, less humidity than normal (62%) and minimal wind (10 mph). I ran with a buff around my neck (primarily because I thought this was a COVID requirement) and in gloves. The temperature didn’t really warrant glove wearing, but this was the coolest morning of the year thus far and apparently it takes me a minute or two to remember how to dress myself for colder weather running.
For the most part, people wore masks at the pre and post-race activities, but not many people raced with any sort of mask or face covering. I’m not expressing strong feelings about this one way or the other, but rather simply stating how it went down. I had my buff around my neck, but I never actually covered my face while I was running. I probably could’ve just done without it, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.
Several people took off a little too hot out of the gate, but after about half a mile or so, everyone had pretty much settled down. I ran neck and neck with another runner basically the entire race. We flip flopped back and forth between first and second overall several times throughout the race. We’ve run together in several races over the years and it is always SO NICE to have someone to work with.
The race course starts out with a little loop and is otherwise a straight shot out and back. You go up one tiny little bridge to get to the turnaround, but for the most part the course is pancake flat. I managed to make a slight “breakaway” on the uphill portion of the bridge, only to run past the turnaround, enabling Jack to catch back up to me. One lane of traffic was blocked and the road was lined with traffic cones. The cones went all the way down the other side of the bridge, where there was also a police car waiting. I kind of just assumed that the turnaround was at the bottom of the bridge, but nope! It was right in the middle. It was marked, but not as well as I was expecting.
Thankfully, I only went a few feet past the cone, but dang. It made a difference! The silver lining was that I still had someone else to work with for the majority of the second half of the race. My splits were perfectly positive, yet very consistent at 5:41, 5:42 and 5:43. I really was not sure what sort of time or pace I would be running going into this race, so I am very pleased with the consistency. My official time was 18:00. My watch read 3.18 miles, so I didn’t run too much extra, but I would’ve really liked to have those few seconds back to get just under 18 minutes. Oh well!
As cheesy as this may sound, this race was good for my soul. I didn’t realize how much I missed the race atmosphere and the racing community in general. I saw so many friendly, familiar (yet covered) faces. I’ve got my eye on a few more local races before the end of the year. I am so thankful that our area is healthy and well enough to safely put on a few small, in person events at this point. It feels REALLY good to be back!
Hey friends! I am really hopeful that this will be my last “nontraditional training log,” as I am hoping to get back into the regular swing of things next week. Fingers crossed!
Week of 09.28.20 – 10.04.20 –
Monday: 6 miles (9:02 pace) Tuesday: 6 miles (8:31 pace) + Pilates Wednesday: Rest Thursday: 8 miles (8:30 pace) Friday: 7 miles (9:05 pace) Saturday: 8 miles (8:58 pace) Sunday: 7.6 miles (8:25 pace)
On Thursday morning I did 12 X 200, with splits of 38, 38, 38, 38, 37, 37, 37, 38, 37, 37, 36, 36. While fairly consistent, I wasn’t super pleased with these splits. My legs didn’t feel all that great, which is unfortunate given the lack of volume and training that I was doing. I was expecting to have more of a pop in my legs.
Week of 10.05.20 – 10.11.20 –
Monday: 6 miles (7:14 pace) Tuesday: 7 miles (8:06 pace) + Pilates Wednesday: 7 miles (8:31 pace) Thursday: 6 miles (8:46 pace) Friday: 8 miles (8:02 pace) Saturday: 5 miles (8:12 pace) Sunday: 12 miles (8:54 pace)
Monday’s run was a bit on the “hot” side of my easy run pace. At this point, my VDOT score likely needs to be updated (i.e., downgraded), which means that this was likely a faster than easy run effort. I had a Moe’s takeout order to pick up by 6:45 and that was all the motivation that I needed to get that run done fairly quickly! Sometimes you just gotta do whatever it takes.
On Saturday afternoon, I did 8 X 200, with splits of 35, 35, 34, 36, 34, 35, 35, 37. I’m not gonna lie, that was some hard running! I was happy to feel that “pop” that I was looking for the week before. There was a high school kid out running at the track and I may or may not have gotten a little carried away trying to show him what was up. Sometimes I think that I’m not really all that competitive and then I go pull some silly stunt like this. Clearly the competitive juices are there somewhere!
Happy October! I don’t know how it feels where you live, but here in South Alabama, it is really feeling like fall. Granted, this will likely last for approximately two days, but still … I’m loving it while we’ve got it!
Month Recap: September 2020
I wouldn’t say that September was a stellar month of training, but it served it’s purpose. I’m in a bit of a rest and regroup phase right now. I did do a couple of workouts at the beginning of the month, but otherwise it was pretty much easy running with a few days off sprinkled here and there.
Workouts:
3 mi. WU, 8 X 400 (75), 3 mi. CD 2 mi. WU, 3 X 2 miles (12:32, 11:49, 11:44), 2 mi. CD 2 mi. WU, 2 X 2 miles (12:21, 12:22), 2 mi. CD 3 mi. WU, 4 X [2 min. (5:25), 1.5 min. (5:19), 1 min. (5:16)], 3 mi. CD 2 mi. WU, 10 X 200 (36), 2 mi. CD 3 mi. WU, 10 X 200 (37), 3 mi. CD
Favorite workout: My favorite workout this month was the 400 meter repeats. I typically would’ve picked the 200 meter repeats, but since I’ve been doing those quite a bit recently, they don’t seem to be quite as exciting.
Races: I feel like I should just remove this category at this point, which is so sad. There are a couple races popping up here and there, but the majority of even our small local races are still being cancelled.
Paces: My paces ranged from 5:50 to 9:36.
Average Pace: My average pace for the month was 8:33.
Miles: My total mileage this month was 215 miles.
Elevation: I climbed 7,604 feet this month.
Longest run: My longest run was 13 miles.
Shortest run: My shortest run was 3 miles.
Rest days: 4 whole days off this month! That’s got to be some sort of record. I know rest days are good for you and necessary sometimes, but I’m personally not a big fan.
Pilates: I went to three Pilates classes this month.
Planks: I did 75 minutes of planking this month.
Not too much else to report at the moment. Life is a bit hectic, which is definitely not a bad thing. I hope to get back to a more regular posting schedule after this work deadline.
Hey friends! This is a bit of a nontraditional training log, as I haven’t been doing what I would typically consider to be “traditional” training.
I got the results of my blood-work back two weeks ago. After looking over the results, John said that he had a plan in mind and I was excited to hear what he was going to suggest. Little did I know that his plan was going to be delivered in two words that most athletes don’t want to hear together … “iron protocol.” Basically this means only short, easy runs and no strenuous workouts for approximately four weeks. The idea behind it is that your body can’t recover from any sort of deficiency while you continue to train high levels.
I’m going to do an in depth review of all of the results of my blood-work in another post, but it John’s opinion, the alarming thing about the results was the drop in ferritin, iron and iron saturation since the last time I had blood-work done in January. My ferritin dropped from 37 to 22 (ng/mL), my iron dropped from 228 to 96 (ug/dL) and my iron saturation dropped from 60 to 43.7 (%). All in all, my results were pretty good. The only bio-marker that was labeled as “at-risk” was my testosterone, which was too high. Like, what the heck?! I’m curious to see what the dietitian thinks the root of that is. In the meantime, I am primarily focused on eating all of iron rich foods that I possibly can (think red meat, beans, tofu, cashews, spinach and fortified cereal), while also cooling my jets a little bit on the workout front.
The decreased iron levels definitely explain why I have been feeling tired and why dragging myself out of bed in the mornings to go run had started to feel like a chore. I’m so relieved to know that there is a scientific reason to explain the way I have been feeling. I was kind of worried that my motivation was just gone and that maybe my running “career” was on the decline. While this may or may not be true, one thing we know for sure is that if I don’t get my iron levels up, I don’t have a fighting chance to perform my best.
As a side note, if I never run another race as fast as I have in the past, I will be just fine. I feel very satisfied and proud of what I have accomplished. Do I want to run faster? Sure. Am I less of a person if I don’t? Absolutely not. This is a little bit an odd place for me to be mentally. I can’t remember a time over the past few years (or the past decade even) where I haven’t been actively working to improve my times.
Week of 09.14.20 – 09.20.20 –
Monday: Rest Tuesday: 9 miles (7:33 pace) Wednesday: 5 miles (9:01 pace) Thursday: 8.25 miles (8:56 pace) Friday: 7.5 miles (9:01 pace) Saturday: 7.75 miles (8:56 pace) Sunday: 6 miles (7:58 pace)
Admittedly, I did a little bit more this week than I was “supposed” to do. I truly felt like I NEEDED any semblance of normalcy in a week where everything was completely chaotic. See previous post re: Hurricane Sally for more info about said chaos. The only workout that I am “allowed” to do currently is 200 meter repeats, which I did on Sunday. This is essentially the same thing as doing a few strides. My splits were 37, 36, 36, 36, 36, 34, 35, 36, 35, 34 (this averages out to 4:44 pace). I don’t know exactly how this happened, but I felt AMAZING! Perhaps the combination of rested legs and more iron throughout the week … light bulb moment!
Week of 09.21.20 – 09.27.20 –
Monday: 6 miles (8:10 pace) Tuesday: 4.5 miles (7:44 pace) + Pilates Wednesday: Rest Thursday: 8 miles (8:50 pace) Friday: 3 miles (8:48 pace) Saturday: 5 miles (8:56 pace) Sunday: 8.5 miles (8:26 pace)
This week looked a lot more like what my coach had in mind. I ended the week with 35 miles, which is a fairly significant decrease in my normal training volume. I did a few more 200 meter repeats on Thursday as well. My splits were 37, 37, 37, 37, 36, 37, 37, 37, 36, 37 (this averages out to 4:56 pace). My legs didn’t feel quite as good as they did the week prior. It was humid and rainy this week whereas it had been a bit cooler and drier the week before. I’m sure this had something to do with it!
That’s all I’ve got for now. Talk to you again soon!
I wanna hide with you in the rain In the eye of a hurricane I wanna call it for what it is And give you everything I’ve got to give ‘Til there’s nothing left ‘Til there’s nothing left
Hey friends! Well … we made it!
Today’s post is all about preparing for and riding out Hurricane Sally. For those of you who aren’t local or may be new here (welcome!), I live in the Mobile Bay area (hence the blog name :)). Sally made a direct hit on our area last week. The storm wasn’t even really on our radar until a couple days before it made landfall. I don’t recall hearing about it until Sunday and it made landfall in the wee hours of Wednesday morning (i.e., Tuesday night).
There was another big factor at play in my life the week of the storm and that was the extended business tax deadline on Tuesday. Because a tax deadline and a hurricane aren’t stressful enough in their own right, let’s go ahead and combine them and see what happens. How lovely. Thank you for that, 2020.
So on Sunday, we learned that there was a slow moving tropical system in the Gulf named Sally. It was originally projected to make landfall in Louisiana and we were basically expecting it to be a large rain event. However, throughout the day on both Sunday and Monday, the track continually shifted further and further to the east. Before we knew it, it looked like Sally was coming right at us. While it was still a tropical storm at this point, it was forecasted to make landfall as a hurricane.
Monday was a LONG day! I was at work until close to 7 p.m. Deadlines are hectic as it is and when you throw a hurricane into the mix, things get really chaotic. We were frantically trying to tie up all of our loose ends on Monday before the deadline on Tuesday. A lot of people think that the process is over as soon as a tax return is finished being prepared, but in actuality there are still quite a few steps that have to take place before the process is complete. The return has to be billed, the customer has to pay their bill (we don’t like working for free), the customer has to sign their e-file forms, those forms have to be returned to us and then we submit the tax return. It’s a lot of steps, a lot of back and forth and a lot of … stress. By the time I got home from work, I was DONE.
Check out our sunset Monday night! The calm before the storm …
My brain was having a hard time comprehending what was about to happen. I went back and forth and back and forth some more about where I was going to stay during the storm. I begrudgingly packed a bag on Monday night just in case I couldn’t get back home on Tuesday after work. Richard was going to be at the fire station for the 24 hours leading up to and immediately after landfall.
I wanted to be at home, but I also wanted to be with my mom and dad. Their house is right on the Bay and with the path shifting more and more towards us, I didn’t feel comfortable with anyone staying there. The house is over 100 years old and needs major repairs as it is. The house definitely has good bones, but bones do break sometimes and I really didn’t want any of us to be there if they did. Ultimately Mom and Dad decided to go north and I decided to stay at home on the farm in the shop that Richard built this past spring. Our house is on “stilts,” which is very strange considering that we sit at an elevation of over 100 ft. with no chance of flooding, but either which way, the shop was my best option (especially because I knew that it was built really well :)).
Thankfully Richard was on it as far as the preparations go. He’s a coastal engineer and apparently those guys know a thing or two about hurricanes. He understood the uncertainty in the forecast all along and had a mindset of “prepare for the worst.” Here are a few things that he did to prepare:
He used ratchet straps to tie down any loose things that needed to secured to minimize damage.
He filled up enough containers with water to last us for 72 hours (based on an estimate of needing 15 gallons per day). We would be without water in the event that we lost power because we are on a well. We also probably need more water than most people because of the animals.
He got the generator out, tested it, hooked it up and made sure that we also had enough fuel to last us for 72 hours. Based on our location, we felt like would have access to fuel at that point.
He also put a tarp on our already leaky roof in order to hopefully minimize any further water damage.
Even though my brain couldn’t comprehend what was going on Monday night, it woke up before 3 a.m. Tuesday morning fully aware of what was happening. I knew there was no going back to sleep at this point, so I just went with it. I got up, made coffee, went for a run, showered and got to work by 6. The conditions were forecasted to deteriorate as the hours went by on Tuesday, so we planned to leave the office by mid-morning. As it turns out, Sally was a very slow moving storm (she slowed her Mustang WAY down (gotta love a good Sally pun at this point)) and we had a bit longer than anticipated.
Richard left for the station late Tuesday afternoon. As he left, I said, “This is it. It’s go time.” I was a tad nervous about riding this thing out alone, but I felt oddly at peace. I had Brooks with me and I was super thankful for his canine companionship. I checked the rain gauge a few times and watched the news, but otherwise there wasn’t really much I could do at that point. As a side note, you know you are married to an engineer when he asks you to take data measurements in the midst of a natural disaster and you know you are an accountant when your data loving heart is completely on board! I was actually thankful to have the rain gauge “task” as something to do. In a weird way, it gave me a purpose in a situation where you otherwise feel completely useless and helpless.
I went to bed fairly early (shocking, I know (insert sarcasm here)), but I only slept in spurts of a couple hours at a time. I woke up before midnight and realized that we didn’t have power. I got the generator running (thanks to my handy, dandy instructions) and turned the news back on. Sally hadn’t made landfall yet and it seemed like the storm was actually weakening. Spoiler alert: it didn’t. I decided to turn the generator back off because I didn’t want to waste any of the fuel.
I slept for another couple of hours and woke up right as the storm made landfall in Baldwin County. We are a little bit further north, so things weren’t nearly as bad here as they were right on the coast, but it was getting scarily close. I texted Richard and he said that they had over 100 active 911 calls! They responded to as many calls as they could throughout the night, but as the worst of the storm got to us, they had to suspend all emergency response throughout the entire county. He was back at the station and only a couple miles away at this point. I was happy that he was at least close by.
Somehow in the midst of all of this, I managed to fall back asleep. I don’t even know how I did this, but I felt safe and I was also completely exhausted. I woke up a couple hours later, after the brunt of the storm had passed. We had over 91 mm of rain during those couple of hours! The road between our house and the fire station was covered in downed trees and power lines. There were over 30 trees down along about a half mile stretch of the main road.
After the fact, we know that Hurricane Sally made landfall in Gulf Shores, AL as a Category 2 Hurricane with winds of 105 mph. Our county has extensive structural damage because we were in the eyewall of a slow moving, yet STRONG Category 2 Hurricane for over 4 hours. The tremendous amount of rain combined with the high wind was quite disastrous.
Once it calmed down a little bit, Richard walked home from the fire station to check on me and to get his chainsaws and the tractor. The main priority at that point was to clear the roadways so other first responders and emergency vehicles to get through. While the worst of the storm had passed at this point, the conditions were still pretty bad. I was very emotional watching him ride away on the tractor. I was so proud very proud of him. Worried? Yes. Proud? One thousand times YES. I have a totally different understanding of the selflessness and sacrifice that first responders make on a daily basis after going through this experience.
After he left, I went out and checked on all the animals and did a quick damage assessment of the property. Thankfully all the animals were accounted for! It took me a while to find the ducks, but I honestly think they were having themselves a good little time in all that rain. We had several big limbs and debris, but only a couple trees down, which still seems quite miraculous. The damage and devastation around our county was extensive. Even now, a week later, I still am kind of at a loss for how to describe it.
One thing that definitely surprised me is how well we were able to eat throughout all of this. We had eggs most mornings and grilled out in the evenings. Nothing like a good storm to prompt you to clean out your fridge and freezer! We cooked steak, venison, chicken and I think a few other things I am forgetting at this point.
The rest of the week was primarily about cleanup. I picked up sticks and raked each day until my arms literally couldn’t rake anymore. Thankfully, Richard was able to cleanup the bigger stuff with the tractor. After about two days too many without cleaning ourselves up, we decided that we were going to have to figure out a way to bathe. Enter –> creek! Yep, we really did that.
On Friday, we were able to get a small window unit running, which was a huge blessing. It had started to get a little bit warm! We also got a pump hooked up to one of our water tanks so that we had “running water.” Granted, it wasn’t drinkable running water, but it sure beat manually filling the toilet up and washing your hands in a bucket. On Monday, we got a second generator, which enabled us to run the well pump. I was so ready to wash clothes and to take a warm shower! Basically each day we made a few small improvements to our situation. We were without power for over a week, but thankfully it was restored yesterday!
A week later, I still just feel super thankful that we made it through the storm with minimal damage. It’s been amazing seeing friends, neighbors and the community in general come together to help each other out as well. Everyone went through the same storm and is dealing with the same damage (whether emotional or physical), so it’s easy to empathize with what other people are feeling in the aftermath. It’s amazing how something so scary and devastating can make you stop and realize that you truly have all you ever needed and more.
I was sure by now, God you would have reached down And wiped our tears away, Stepped in and saved the day. But once again, I say amen That it’s still raining As the thunder rolls I barely hear your whisper through the rain I’m with you And as your mercy falls I raise my hands and praise The God who gives and takes away
And I’ll praise you in this storm And I will lift my hands That you are who you are No matter where I am And every tear I’ve cried You hold in your hand You never left my side And though my heart is torn I will praise you in this storm
Hey-o! Here is what last week’s training looked like:
Monday – Easy: 12 miles (8:30 pace)
I got in a Labor Day long run on Monday morning! The humidity was lower than normal, which was quite a treat. I left the house at dark o’clock and headed over to meet up with one of my friends. She had a workout, so we didn’t get to run together much at all, but it was nice to be out there together either way. Richard followed me out in the golf cart so that I wouldn’t fall on the driveway in the dark. So chivalrous!
Tuesday – Easy: 7 miles (8:39 pace)
I got in some easy driveway miles on Tuesday morning.
Wednesday – Easy: 6 miles (8:54 pace)
Wednesday morning was more of the same. I really need to shake things up a bit, but I am enjoying running from home.
Thursday – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 2 X 2 mi. @ MP w/ 1 mi. recovery, 2 mi. CD
I had a workout on tap for Thursday morning. Well … actually it was on tap for Wednesday morning, but I needed another day and moved it. The workout called for a two mile warm up, two miles at marathon pace, one mile easy, two miles at marathon pace and a two mile cool down. My goal pace for the marathon pace miles was 6:10 ish. After a workout that was 3 X 2 miles at threshold pace the weekend prior, 2 X 2 miles at marathon pace seemed very doable. I ran on a route that I wouldn’t describe as hilly, but that was definitely not flat (if that makes any sense). My splits were 6:17, 6:04 and 6:15, 6:07. The splits make sense given the terrain. I was pleased with this one. Nothing flashy, but some solid effort for sure.
Friday –Easy: 7 miles (8:39 pace)
I got in some more easy miles from home Friday morning.
Saturday – Quality: 3 mi. WU, 4 X [2, 1.5, 1 min.], 3 mi. CD
Saturday morning’s workout called for a three mile warm up, four sets of two minutes, one and a half minutes and one minute hard with one minute recovery between each rep and a three mile cool down. This was supposed to be more of an effort-based, fartlek session rather than a specific track session. I wouldn’t say this workout was anything stellar, but I got it done and my paces progressed down as the workout went on. The first few reps were in the mid five minute pace range (5:30-5:35) and the last few were in the low five minute range (5:10-5:15).
Sunday – Easy: 13 miles (8:58 pace)
Sunday morning’s run was my favorite run in quite some time! Several of us got together to support one of our friends as she ran the Virtual Boston Marathon! This would’ve been her first time running Boston. She was originally on the fence about participating virtually, but ultimately I think she was glad that she did. She had a ton of support, which was amazing to see! Those of us that ran with her were so glad that she asked us to join her and really were just thankful to be able to along for the ride. After that run, I was so pumped! The running community is AWESOME!
Hey-o! I hope everyone had a happy, safe Labor Day! Here is what last week’s training looked like:
Monday – Easy: 6 miles (8:22 pace)
I was |thisclose| to taking a rest day on Monday as I was feeling fairly fatigued after the volume of the prior weekend’s quality work (marathon pace run on Saturday followed by a hilly long run on Sunday). I ended up doing an easy run after work Monday evening. Once I got going, my legs felt better than I thought they were going to and of course, I was glad that I got it in.
Tuesday – Easy: 6 miles (8:50 pace)
I did another short (relative terminology of course) easy run on the driveway Tuesday morning. However, my legs felt way worse Tuesday than they did Monday. I wasn’t ready for more hills at that point I don’t think. It was a bit of a slog.
Wednesday – Quality: 3 mi. WU, 8 X 400, 3 mi. CD
Wednesday morning I hit the track for some 400s! I wasn’t sure how my legs were going to respond to me asking them to run fast given how sluggish I felt the day before. The workout called for a three mile warm up, eight 400s with a two minute walking rest in between and a three mile cool down. The goal was to run them at 4:58 pace (74 seconds per 400). My actual splits were 76, 75, 76, 75, 74, 74, 74 and 74. Whew! I was pleasantly surprised with that one.
Thursday AM – Easy: 6 miles (9:09 pace) + PM – Easy: 7 miles (8:36 pace)
I got in a few easy driveway miles before work on Thursday. I also did an easy double after work. I only intended to do 4 or 5 miles … oops!
Friday –REST
I took a much-needed rest day on Friday. I got my bloodwork done with Inside Tracker and I’m really looking forward to getting those results.
Saturday – Easy: 8 miles (8:44 pace)
I was originally supposed to do a workout Saturday and a long run Sunday, but the Labor Day holiday on Monday gave me a bit of wiggle room and allowed me to shift it to Sunday and Monday. After a day off on Friday, I felt like I wanted to ease back in with an easy run and not jump back in with an intense workout. They nearly took all of my blood on Friday anyway, so I figured I’d give my body a chance to replenish itself.
I went over to see my mom and dad Saturday morning. My mom and I got a nice little five mile walk in and then I headed out to run afterwards. It was a beautiful morning, but by the time I got to the run, it was heating up rather quickly.
Sunday – Quality: 2 mi. WU, 3 X 2 miles at threshold, 2 mi. CD
Sunday morning I ventured out to tackle my workout. The workout was originally written as a two mile warm up, 3 X 10 minutes at threshold with a two minute recovery and a two mile cool down. I extended the threshold intervals slightly to make it 3 X 2 miles instead, mainly because I didn’t want to fool with setting up a workout on my watch and thought it would be easier to just go by mileage. I don’t think this changed the intent or purpose of the workout in the slightest, but just made it a tad longer.
My goal pace was 5:50. I averaged 6:16 for the first set, which is close to 30 seconds over goal pace! Woof. So many thoughts went through my head at that point. Clearly my legs weren’t cooperating. Should I just stop? I decided that I shouldn’t atop and that if I averaged 6:16 for all 3 sets, then so be it, that would still be better than giving up. I don’t know if it was purely because I made my mind up not to quit or what exactly, but once I started the second set, I suddenly felt so much better. I averaged 5:54 for the second set and 5:52 for the last set. I am so glad that I fought my way back after a rough start. This was a huge victory in the mental category for me!
My biggest takeaway from this workout was, “Don’t judge a workout by the first set.” This is similar to “don’t judge a run by the first mile,” but with a little twist.
